James Eyre (judge)

He commenced practice in the lord mayors and sheriffs courts, paying £63 (2011: £8,000) for one of the four counsel to the City of London Corporation.

[2] He was counsel for the plaintiff in the case of Wilkes v. Wood, and made a brilliant speech in condemnation of the execution of general search warrants.

In 1793 he was made Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, and presided over the trials of Horne Tooke, Robert Thomas Crossfield and others.

The Bill passed despite the opposition of Eyre and the premises were sold by auction in the same year to Joseph Medworth.

Eyre was son-in-law of Henry Southwell of Bank House, Wisbech, Isle of Ely a member of the family tenanting the castle, and to that extent an interested party.